Burn
Injuries

Representing Burn Injury Victims in Miami, Florida

Burn injuries are notoriously painful. Even a seemingly minor burn can cause immense distress for the victim. With more severe burn injuries, the consequences can truly be devastating, potentially requiring multiple medical operations. Serious burn injuries remain far too common in the United States. According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one million Americans require professional medical attention for burn injuries each year.   

When a burn is caused by the negligence of another party, the victims deserve full and fair financial compensation for their losses. At Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, LLP, our legal team is committed to seeking justice for Florida burn injury victims. We understand these cases and we know how to hold the responsible parties accountable for the damage that they have caused. If you or a family member has suffered a serious burn injury in South Florida, please contact our experienced Miami burn injury attorneys today for immediate assistance with your claim.

We Handle All Types of Burn Injury Cases

Burn injuries can occur in a wide variety of ways. Regardless of the underlying cause of your burn, you have a legal right to hold the party whose negligence caused the injuries liable for your damages. To do this, you should always work with an attorney who has experience handling cases that are similar to yours. Our South Florida burn injury attorneys handle all types of burn injury claims, including those caused by:

• Direct contact with an open flame;
• Scalding by hot liquid, usually involving spills;
• Contact with hot objects (thermal burns);
• Electricity;
• Smoke and smoke inhalation;
• Defective products; and
• Contact with dangerous, corrosive chemicals.

Chemical Burns

Chemical burns, unlike standard burns, occur when the skin comes into contact with corrosive chemicals, such as:

• Sulfuric acid;
• Silver nitrate;
• Hydrochloric acid; and
• Ammonia. 

Many of these chemicals are actually pretty common, as they are used in a variety of consumer products, including cleaners, soaps, and pool chlorination compounds. Unfortunately, coming into contact with these chemicals isn’t always safe, with consumers at risk of suffering burns, numbness, blackened or dead skin, and eye damage. When ingested, these products can even cause seizures, irregular heartbeat, and cardiac arrest. While anyone who comes into contact with these kinds of chemicals could suffer injuries, certain populations are particularly prone to injury, including infants, toddlers, the elderly, and manufacturing plant employees. 

Chemical burn injuries are not as rare as you might think. In 2017, for example, an estimated 275,000 people suffered burns after a phone case that contained glitter in a suspended liquid started leaking. Some sustained burns to the hands, but many suffered injuries and swelling to the face and legs. Last year, two young boys suffered chemical burns to their faces after a teacher used a cleaning sponge to wipe marks off of their skin. Around the same time, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the manufacturers of a hair and beard product that caused users to suffer burns, respiratory problems, and even convulsions. Finally, just last month, a company that sold sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide had their products recalled when it was discovered that the bottles were not childproof, which posed a potential risk to children, who could suffer severe burns if they came into contact with the product. Additionally, a few years ago, a nine-year-old boy sustained second-degree chemical burns on his feet when his light-up sneakers began leaking acid. 

While manufacturers are required to use a certain degree of care in designing and assembling their products, many do not fulfill this responsibility, leaving consumers at risk of serious injuries like chemical burns. Fortunately, it is possible to hold companies responsible for this kind of negligence, so if you or a loved one sustained chemical burns or were otherwise injured by a defective consumer product, you should consider retaining an experienced Florida burn injury lawyer who can help you file a claim. 

Chemical burns: Detergents, solvents, and strong acids that come into contact with the skin can all cause a chemical burn.

How to Prove Liability in Florida Burn Injury Claim

All Florida personal injury cases, including burn injury claims, are governed by the state’s comparative fault standard. This rule can be found under Chapter 768.81 of the Florida state statutes. Under this law, victims can hold a party responsible for their burn injury only if they can prove that the defendant’s negligence, in some manner, contributed to their accident.

Degrees of Burn Injuries

While there are different types of burn injuries, there are also different degrees of burns. These range from first degree to fourth degree. A first degree burn will only affect the epidermis, or outer layer, of the skin and will heal on their own in a matter of days or weeks. Fourth degree burns are much more serious. These burns can affect the muscle, tissue, and nerve endings under the skin, as well as damage all layers of the skin. The more severe a burn injury is, the more painful it is, and the more likely it is to result in permanent scarring and disfigurement.

Types of Burns

Flames caused by open flames are one of the most common types of burns suffered in an accident. However, there are other types of burn injuries, as well. These include:

• Friction burns: Carpet burns are one of the most common types of friction burns. They are also common in bicycle and motorcycle accidents. Friction burns occur when the skin is removed by a hard object, such as when a biker falls to the ground during a crash and their skin scrapes along the pavement.
• Cold burns: Cold burns freeze the skin, damaging it to the same extent as a burn would. Frostbite is one type of cold burn. If someone placed something cold on their skin, such as an icepack, for an extended period of time, it could also result in a cold burn.
• Thermal burns: Thermal burns occur when a person touches a very hot object and the cells in the skin that made contact begin to die. Flames, scalding liquids, steam, and very hot metals can all cause thermal burns.
• Radiation burns: Sunburns are perhaps the most commonly known types of radiation burns. However, these burns have other causes too, such as when negligent medical professionals expose patients to radiation during cancer treatments.
• Electrical burns: Coming in contact with a live electrical current can cause an electrical burn. For example, someone may not properly encase a live wire on a construction site, causing someone else to become injured by it.

What is Negligence?

In simplified terms, negligence is defined as the failure to take due care within the context of a given set of circumstances. Put another way, if a defendant did something unsafe or careless, and you suffered a burn injury as a direct result, you can hold that party liable for your losses. To prove negligence in Florida, your Miami burn injury lawyer will need to prove each of the four required legal elements. More specifically, your lawyer must prove:

• The extent of the duty of care that was owed to you by the defendant;
• That the defendant’s actions or inactions constituted a breach of that duty;
• That there was causation between the breach of duty and your burn injury; and
• That you sustained real damages as a result of your burn.

Burn injuries are some of the most serious a person could suffer in an accident. Burns are extremely painful, costly to treat, and can cause permanent scarring and disfigurement. If you have suffered burn injuries due to the negligent actions of another person, you can file a claim for damages. The damages you can receive will depend on the type of burn you have suffered and the severity of the injury. Below, our Miami burn injury lawyer explains the different types of burn injuries that form the basis of personal injury claims.

Liability Can Be Split Between Multiple Parties

In some burn injury cases, two or more parties may share financial responsibility for a victim’s damages. Indeed, in some cases, the victim may even be held partially at fault for their own burn injury. This is possible because Florida is a comparative negligence jurisdiction. As such, liability is always divided in direct proportion to each party’s percentage of fault for an accident. Sadly, the big insurance companies often try to push some amount of the blame onto burn injury victims. They do this to lessen their own financial liability. Please do not let this happen to you: Work with an experienced Miami personal injury lawyer who can protect you from an unjust share of the fault. 

Miami Burn Injury Victims Deserve Fair Compensation

Once you have established legal liability, a burn injury case moves to damages. Under Florida law, burn victims are entitled to compensation that is equivalent in value to the value of their losses. This includes both direct monetary losses, as well as any intangible losses. However, unfortunately, for many reasons, full compensation can often be difficult to obtain. Burn injury cases are complex. To maximize recovery, victims need to know how to deal with the big insurance companies and how to properly document their damages. Our experienced Miami burn injury lawyers can help. We will help you seek financial relief for: 

• Ambulance costs;
• Emergency room fees;
• Surgery costs;
• Other medical bills;
• Physical therapy costs;
• Long-term disability;
• Lost income;
• Pain and suffering;
• Mental distress;
• Burn-related disfigurement; and
• Any temporary or permanent scarring.

You Can Always Afford Our Top-Rated Burn Injury Lawyers

Many Florida burn injury victims worry that they will not be able to afford a good lawyer. This is an understandable concern. After all, popular culture paints lawyers as highly expensive. Yet, the truth is quite the opposite. With our firm, there are no out-of-pocket costs or upfront fees for our clients. Further, if we do not help you recover financial compensation, then we do not get paid at all. This is because we take all burn injury claims on a contingency fee basis. Our legal fees come directly out of your settlement offer or court judgment. We only get paid when we recover money for you.

Our Personal Injury Lawyer in Miami Can Help After a Burn Injury

After a burn injury, you should take the necessary amount of time to heal and try to get better. Now is not the time for you to worry about filing a personal injury claim. At Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, our Miami personal injury lawyers will handle every aspect of your claim so you can recover the full financial compensation you need to treat your injuries. Call us now at (305) 371-2692 or contact us online to schedule a free review of your case.

Contact Our Team Today

At Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, LLP, our South Florida personal injury attorneys have extensive experience handling burn injury claims. If you or a loved one was severely burned in an accident, please contact us today to request your free initial legal consultation. We have offices in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and we serve burn victims throughout the region, including in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County.

Our Lawyers are Trial-Tested

While the majority of personal injury claims reach out of court settlements, some cases do go to trial. Our personal injury lawyers are renowned for their trial skills. We have connections with the experts need to investigate and build your case. No matter the facts, we are ready to take your claim as far as it needs to go to get you the full financial recovery you deserve.